Clube FII

Revolutionizing the real estate industry in Brazil

About the project

Clube FII is the most relevant website of Real Estate Investment Trust ( REITs ) in Brazil. The website provides daily information for more than 250k subscribed users through forums, online courses, articles, interviews and a set of advanced tools for investors to learn, build, track their portfolios and reach their financial goals.

My role on the project

My role as a founder and head of design consists of leading the entire creative and design direction in the disciplines of design systems, user experience, digital product, collaterals, branding, advertising, motion, video, and social media. I design a lot of things on my own and lead a team of collaborators, like front end developers, motion designers, video editors, creatives, and other kinds of professionals that contribute full time, part time or in special projects.

The story

In 2015, Rodrigo Cardoso, a friend of mine who is a developer and a REITs investor, created a software for his personal use to help track and manage his investments. So he came with the idea of transforming his initial software into a digital product and platform that could be used by many other investors and could be the go-to place for people in Brazil who invests in REITs to exchange information and track their portfolios.

He needed a partner to lead the creative and design direction along with the product design. I decided to accept the challenge and started this company with him. In the beginning, we didn't have much money or resources, and he invested from his pocket the bare minimum to cover the basic costs of starting the business.

Ux research and methodology

Different UX research methodologies were employed by both the design and product teams, emphasizing the importance of UX throughout the company. Our approach revolved around real users, allowing us to build, test, and iterate in real-time. With our established design system, we made immediate adjustments to the live product. An open communication channel with our beta users ensured we gathered daily user feedback on various topics.

Being an online startup, we had an agile, remote-working environment ( much before the pandemic ) that utilized cutting-edge tools. I developed a design system that functioned both online and offline, ensuring efficient use of consistent design patterns across all platforms. The workflow I established with the Sketch App and Invision streamlined the provision of assets to developers, and our design language facilitated the creation of new pages, sometimes purely through verbal collaboration.

Product

Initially, instead of investing in marketing, we invested in building a good product with features that were innovative and useful to the hardcore investor. We created forums, online courses, articles, interviews, and a set of advanced tools for investors to learn, build, and track their portfolios and reach their financial goals. Because we created something that didn't exist before, we grew very fast attracting loyal users who helped us a lot testing the products and giving us feedback and suggestions for new features. We quickly ranked to the top of Google's search and were invited to showcase the product on different specialized media channels.

We initially built on basic tech, leading to cross-platform complexities. Recognizing the need for a shift to frameworks like React, we faced resource constraints. Despite this, we strategically prioritized essential features and learned the importance of adaptability and resourceful navigation through challenges.

Branding and design system

I created a design system that works not only on the digital platform but also on presentations, eBooks, magazines, videos, and social media posts. There's an ongoing effort for the same brand elements to be used on each media through the project. We have one typeface, 5 icon categories, patterns, different styles of illustrations, and one style of photography.

Illustrations

Information plays a crucial role in the product, but to keep it interesting and engaging, contemporary art and illustrations were created and added to the visual language in different parts of the project.

Contemporary art

To illustrate the headers of the tools inside the website platform, I created a series of artworks resembling contemporary paintings.

Motion design

I've also worked with different motion designers to create intros for our youtube shows

Collaterals

I designed books, magazines, flyers, financial reports, presentation templates, certificates, a mug, usb flash drive, notepads to give away to clients and partners, wallpapers, business cards and even an exhibition stand.

Social media

Our youtube channel plays an important role for the company. As we keep growing the number of subscribers, we keep adding new shows. Also, we use instagram, facebook and twitter to promote all the new things we create, like tools, partnerships, interviews, quotes from famous investors, and different kinds of content related to REITs.

Advertising

In 2021 we launched an advertising campaign created by the agency Tech and Soul called Brick Coin. Produced in limited edition and with a design signed by Isay Weinfeld, Brick Coin is a piece composed of stone and metal, with embedded technology: each unit has its value backed by a fraction of a REIT, which the investor knows exactly where it is, and it has a unique QR Code that indicates the share price of this fund linked to it.

The outcome

In 7 years we bootstrapped a product that disrupted the REITs market in Brazil, and that everybody from the financial industry knows about. As of 2021, the company had 10+ employees, 288k registered users, 230k messages exchanged on the forum, 30 million page-views, 7.5 million website visits, 3 million unique users on the site, 3.5 thousand active subscribers, and 150 thousand followers on social networks.

In retrospect, my journey with Clube FII encapsulated a critical lesson: When you create a product that resonates deeply with an audience in a burgeoning industry, and can efficiently iterate based on feedback, the path to success becomes significantly smoother.

Many thanks to

Rodrigo Cardoso, Felipe Chaves, Júnior Morais, Thiago Otuki, Nathan Otávio, João Pádua, Eduardo Alcantara, Hebert Quiroz, Sérgio Wontroba, Beethowen Souza, André Silvestre, Flavio Waiteman, Isay Weinfeld, Marcelo Corrêa, Daniel Magri, Guga Dias da Costa, Renan Bulgari, Rogerio Gonçalves, Mariana Nakiri

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